


Lucid Dreaming

by flowerslut



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Drama, F/M, Flashbacks, Multi, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-10-13 03:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17480363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowerslut/pseuds/flowerslut
Summary: A collection of various one-shots, updated at random, all from Tumblr prompts.Characters, pairings, and tags will be added with each addition. Ratings may change.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alice x jasper prompt: "it's over, it's done, just leave it be."

Even as they sped away, Alice could still smell it all.

The smoke, the fresh snow, the blood.

Even now, the smell of residual blood wasn’t quite fresh, per se, but it’s effects on her were still as potent as it was after the first hint hit her senses a few hours ago.

Letting her eyes wander toward her husband, she frowned when she noticed the dark red caked underneath his nails. His hands were gripping his knees tightly—fresh holes in his pants torn by his own fingers—as he stared out the car window and into the night.

It had been a handful of years since she’d smelled human blood that fresh so closely. She’d nearly forgotten how utterly appealing it was. Shaking her head she turned back toward the front of the car as she found herself shifting on the seats.

Emmett slowed down enough to make a sharp right before speeding up again. The sound as he shifted gears was deafening in the cab. Even Esme, in the seat beside him, was silent as they drove.

There were few things on this planet that Alice hadn’t seen coming.

She simply had never thought that Maria would be one of them.

“The snow on the road ahead is too deep already,” she spoke up after another stretch of silence. “Make a left at the next intersection.”

Emmett merely nodded. Alice made the mistake of looking at him in the rear-view mirror.

His red eyes made him look utterly menacing. It was the first time she’d seen them on him since meeting him, and he looked so very un-Emmett-like that it left her feeling so hollow.

Seeing the red on Esme was worse. She could still hear the woman’s mournful cries as if they’d never stopped and the guilt was suddenly fresh in Alice’s heart.

Jasper tightened his grip on his knees, and when a wave of self-loathing suddenly filled the car, Esme whimpered and Emmett swore. Jasper reigned it in quickly, shaking his head.

“Sorry.” He muttered, the first word he’d spoken since they’d jumped in the car a couple of hours ago. The negative emotion vanished from the air, and Esme finally turned in her seat.

“Jasper—”

“Don’t,” he spoke quietly, but firmly. “Please.”

Esme’s frown deepened—another thing that looked out of place on her lovely face—but she nodded and turned around regardless.

There was silence for a few more minutes before Jasper spoke up again, his words directed toward Alice.

“Is she still following us?”

Alice shook her head despite the fact that no one in the car was glancing her way. “She got bored after the first hour. She’s going to go watch the house burn from afar and then before dawn she’ll already be heading back down south.”

He didn’t react to that piece of information.

Alice bit back her sigh, turning to watch the snow in the darkness.

Carlisle, Edward, and Rosalie had been left behind to pick up the pieces. They would need to play the ‘mourning family’ role, and so would she. After they got to their destination and got settled, Alice would return to what they would be selling as a tragic, unexplainable fire. But of course it would be explained easily. A candle set too close to the curtains created a fiery inferno that claimed three of the seven Cullens as they slept.

So while Alice could return, her red-eyed loved ones would have to stay away and play dead.

The town would mourn, the family would need to set affairs in order, and then in a month they’d be able to disappear, too. Off to a new town to try and start again.

She kept her sight forward, mostly watching how the scene was still unfolding—after all, they needed corpses comparable in size. And while none of the human’s that Maria had corralled for her little ‘show’ had been as big as Emmett, Alice could see that the detectives wouldn’t look too harshly at specifics.

All they would see is that the kind Doctor Cullen and his nice family had been struck by tragedy, and questions about the ‘why’ wouldn’t matter to most people.

Alice figured she didn’t need to tell anyone how currently the biggest issue Edward and Carlisle were facing wasn’t fabrication of evidence, but rather attempting to keep Rosalie from racing headlong after Maria and killing the woman herself.

The fire currently destroying what they’d called home for the past three years would be put out infinitely easier than the ones fueling Rosalie’s rage.

“I may have to leave before we get there,” Alice spoke softly, hating how true the words are. She had originally been asked to stay to help set things in motion. It would also help to have her there as a link into their now-uncertain future.

But Jasper had been an absolute wreck—his future a constantly-changing maze that she could see no clear end to—and Alice couldn’t bring herself to part from him in the immediate aftermath of the madness.

It also didn’t help that the visions she gotten of him, running from their family—from _her_ — had nearly solidified themselves in her brain.

It was exactly what Maria wanted from him, and both she and Edward knew that.

So when she informed Carlisle she had to go with them, at least for a little while, Edward had quietly backed up her claim. And, newcomers as they were, Alice knew that although Carlisle didn’t exactly fully trust her and Jasper yet, he trusted Edward unflinchingly.

She turned toward her husband, her eyes locking on his bloodied up wedding band, and her heart broke.

Reaching over she placed her hand over his. She saw him wrestle with himself for a couple seconds, so when he pulled his hand out of her grip she wasn’t shocked by it.

But it still hurt.

“Jazz—”

“No.”

“I don’t want you going anywhere.”

“I’m not,” he spoke coldly.

Alice could feel Emmett’s eyes on them through the rearview mirror, but she ignored him.

“That’s not what I see,” her words were barely more than a whisper as she pulled her hand back fully.

And just like that, the visions of him running off disappeared, replaced by a certain, solid vision of Jasper remaining with Emmett and Esme for the foreseeable future. Relief poured through her, but even still, she didn’t want him to isolate himself like this.

“Don’t do this,” she muttered quietly, reaching out again and placing her hand on his leg, “don’t cut yourself off from us. It’s not—”

“Do not say it’s not my fault,” his voice was quiet, but angry.

“It’s not, it’s Maria’s—”

“Alice,” he snapped, “It’s over. It’s done. Just leave it be.”

Emmett slamming on the brakes nearly sent the pair flying forward in their seats. Of course with their reflexes they’d only had to lift an arm, only shifting slightly over the leather.

But Emmett’s low growl was nearly as loud as the engines roar.

“It’s okay,” Alice smiled toward where Emmett was currently turning in his seat, glaring daggers at Jasper. Leaning forward she pecked the hulking vampire on the cheek, before turning to give Esme an embrace. “I’ll be more useful back ho—back in Calgary.” She leaned back and opened the door, the snow blowing into the cab. “Be safe, I’ll call when I see you arrive at Tanya’s.”

Shooting her husband one final glance, she chose not to speak. Instead, she focused on her love for him, the intensity of her concern, and her joy that she’d found since he’d entered her life.

And with those emotions she left, running off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welcome to this little 'series', I guess you can call it, of one shots and prompts. it's going to be updated at random and comprised strictly of Tumblr prompts I've been sent and have subsequently completed. I'm assuming it'll start off as mostly Jasper and Alice but if you'd like to see something of your favorite character or pairing (canon or not) send me a prompt over on Tumblr! I'm always looking for an excuse to take a break from my larger projects and practice my skills, and who knows? if the prompt is intriguing or inspiring enough, I might write yours here!
> 
> find me on Tumblr @ flowerslut!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> human AU. alice x jasper prompt: "how much did you drink?"

It didn’t take her too long to find him—after all, he was still new to the city, it wasn’t as if he were familiar with more than a handful of blocks—but Bella nearly shrieked when Alice quite literally hopped out of her moving vehicle.

“Sorry!” Alice had skidded to a stop a few seconds after Bella had slammed the breaks, running back to her friends truck. “I think I know where he is. Meet me at Moley’s in ten.”

“What? Alice that’s—”

But Alice had already slammed the door and was already running.

In hindsight it may have been smarter to let Bella simply drive her six blocks to the bar that Alice was almost certain Jasper was at. The snow was just high enough that even her boots weren’t keeping the cold, wet stuff out. With every step she took she could feel her socks get progressively wetter.

But Alice also knew that Jasper, while he liked Bella, did not trust her enough to let her see him during one of his ‘off nights’, or so he’d grown to refer to them as.

And if her gut had anything to say—and her gut was always right—this was going to be a very, very off night.

She found him, minutes later, standing exactly where she knew he would be, around the corner from Moley’s—a raggedy little hole in the wall that Jasper favored and Alice hated—leaning against the brick as if to keep himself out of the snow, cigarette hanging from his mouth as he kept his hands shoved into the pocket of his jacket.

“You’re going to freeze to death,” Alice called out as she approached, slowing her run to a clumsy walk through the deepening snow.

At the sound of her voice, Jasper jumped, letting the cigarette fall from his mouth. He attempted to casually bury it under his boot in the snow, and Alice wanted to roll her eyes at the motion. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t be able to smell it on him anyways.

Even still, he knew she hated when he smoked. She’d never explicitly asked him to stop, but she knew he’d been cutting back since they started hanging out.

A part of her liked to think that he did it for her, but it was hard to say what he meant by his actions.

It was hard to say what he meant by his words, sometimes, too.

“I own sweatshirts that are thicker than that jacket,” she spoke again as she got closer and he still didn’t reply.

He glanced toward her once before looking pointedly away, fixing his gaze on a streetlight above them. “So what? Are you fully stalking me now?”

“One day of silence from you is one thing, but three is a red flag.”

He’d stopped replying to her texts after a fairly alarming exchange a few nights prior. And while Alice had only known Jasper for about a month, she knew that his refusal to reply to her messages meant nothing good.

“If we’re talking about red flags, you showing up here unannounced or uninvited is pretty alarming,” he spoke matter-of-factly, finally pushing off of the wall and shuffling his feet a bit. “You, knowing my name the day we met, before I introduced myself, is probably a red flag.”

She frowned at that, sighing. He kind of had her there.

They stood in silence for a few moments only for it to be interrupted when suddenly he stumbled. If he hadn’t been standing so close to the building, he would’ve landed ass-first into the snow.

“Are you okay?” Alice quickly scurried to his side, an arm reaching out but then hesitating. He did always hate to be touched. Then, she sniffed the air around him. “How much did you drink?”

“Enough,” he answered coolly, straightening himself back up only to shuffle back once more and lean against the brick.

“Should I call Edward?”

He scoffed at that, digging through his jean pockets. “Sponsors are for the sober.”

“Yeah, and what about friends?”

He nearly laughed that time. Opening a carton of cigarettes, he put one in his mouth and quickly lit it. If he already decided he didn’t care enough to not smoke around her, Alice simply knew she was already grinding on his nerves fiercely. “Edward and I aren’t friends.” Then, he gave her an amused look, inhaling, then exhaling. “Do you even know how AA works?”

She didn’t want to admit that her knowledge was vague, so she chose to ignore that jab. “You know, friends can help with this type of thing.”

“Didn’t know smoking outside of a bar in the snow was something you needed help with.”

“I’m talking about you isolating yourself, jackass,” Alice grumbled, folding her arms. She hated when he did this. He knew what she was talking about, and the fact that he forced her to say it out loud left her frustrated. Only this time, he surprised her.

“I know.”

He’d never relented so quickly before, and it left her stunned.

He pointed at the awning above his head, keeping the fresh snowflakes from collecting on top of his tall head. “Are you trying to get snowed on?” He nodded his head toward the space directly next to him.

Alice tiptoed through the snow as she moved to his side, trying not to let the sudden rapid beating of her heart distract her from the fact that he’d invited her into his personal space. Trying to be nonchalant about it, she also leaned back against the brick, only to find it utterly frozen over.

When she slipped against the surface, she would’ve fallen straight into the snow if Jasper hadn’t reached out and caught her arm.

Pulling her back onto her feet like she weighed nothing, he nearly chuckled. “You alright?”

Burying her face halfway into her scarf she huffed. “You’re going to get sick,” she reiterated, now back on the first subject, trying to discuss the topic at hand before Bella inevitable found a road that wasn’t closed and made her way over to their block.

“So?”

“So, you shouldn’t want to be sick? You should want to take care of yourself?”

“Why would I do that?”

And there they went again…

It was a conversation that felt years old, as opposed to weeks. Alice didn’t know what she thought she was going to get when suddenly the man she’d been dreaming about since she were a little girl was suddenly right before her. But he’d appeared right in front of her eyes as real as any other person.

She had expected his haggard appearance—after all, she’d seen him thousands of times in her dreams, and he looked nearly identical in every one—but apparently nothing that went along with it.

_“You can’t help someone who doesn’t want help.”_

Bella, her sweet, eternally-exasperated roommate of nearly four years had been telling her that for weeks now, but only now, as Alice stared at Jasper under the glow of the streetlights, snow falling around them both, did she realize that it was heartbreakingly true.

“I don’t want you sick,” she whispered quietly, but loud enough for him to hear. “I want you to take care of yourself.”

He barked out another laugh, cigarette smoke nearly blowing into her face as he shook his head. He took another deep drag and let his eyes stare blankly out into the snow.

“Don’t know why.” He spoke, his words just as quiet as he watched a pair of headlights approach.

And when Bella pulled up outside of the bar, Alice began to walk away.

It wasn’t until she was a couple of feet from the giant, red vehicle, when he spoke up again.

“So what? That’s it?”

Alice turned only to see him appear genuinely shocked at her abrupt departure. Usually they would bicker back and forth for the better part of an hour. Sometimes it ended cordially. Sometimes it ended in tears. But it always had a definitive ending. Her refusal to entertain their new habits seemingly surprised him, and as she watched as he itched at his wrist, his eyes wide, cigarette on his lips as he watched her leave, she knew that this deviation from their new norm was not a welcome one.

But she didn’t make any move to walk back to his side. Instead, she smiled at him.

“I can’t help someone who doesn’t want help.”

He didn’t reply. He simply stared, letting the cigarette burn without inhaling, his fingers fidgeting at the sight of her departure, his eyes studying her face for something.

“You know where to find me,” and with that, she opened Bella’s truck door, and climbed inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I participated Tumblr's Twilight Secret Gift Exchange last holiday season and wrote this for my secret santa. They requested Alice x Jasper so I wrote my interpretation of the immediate aftermath of their first encounter. 
> 
> Set directly after their meeting in that Philadelphia diner.  
> Enjoy.

Maybe it was the thirst. Or maybe it was the unyielding apathy he’d developed over his very existence. There was a chance that it was all simply careless, irresponsible curiosity.

Most likely it was the absurdity of the entire situation.

But no matter what the reason was, Jasper still found himself following the girl, his hand still in her possession as she dragged him after her, one gloved hand gripping an umbrella, the other clinging tightly to his own, scarred one.

It didn’t look right, but Jasper kept that comment to himself as they walked.

Alice. He let his mind repeat the name over and over in his head. He had yet to speak it out loud but he was afraid he might like the way it felt falling from his mouth.

Alice.

He followed her closely for several long minutes. Along roads, down alleyways, across streets. She even stopped to let a group of human children scurry by, waiting almost a full minute after they were out of their sight before she resumed their route.

It was all so odd.

Still unaware of the reason he was even following this girl, he let his eyes take in her appearance again. Tiny, short-cropped black hair, a red dress that was a little too clean, too neat. She’d smiled widely upon sight of him, her big eyes widening, her emotions almost intoxicating as she’d skipped up to him.

And he’d done nothing. He’d stood by and let her speak, apologizing about his apparent tardiness as if he’d been aware of this strange meeting. He hadn’t fled with the realization she was a vampire like he was, or taken a defensive stance, or even tried to prevent her from speaking.

He’d just stood by and watched. Maybe that was his first mistake, because the second his eyes fell on her, he’d been entranced.

She’d tried to usher him underneath the umbrella with her but he shook his head, outright refusing to accept such a bizarre offer. It was rain. The idea of needing to be protected to any extent from the rain was ridiculous. Sure, he understood that humans needed that protection. Humans were fragile, sensitive things.

But this girl wasn’t human. He wasn’t entirely sure what she was. A vampire, most likely, but as the minutes ticked by he was growing less and less sure of that fact. He’d been certain until he’d seen her eyes. Bright golden. Unlike anything he’d ever seen before.

He wondered if it were part of an ability, or maybe a side effect of something unknown to him. He even entertained the idea that she was some type of operative, sent to track him down by Maria and either lure him back to her, or to his demise.

As he kept his eyes trained on her, watching the odd spring in her step that she walked with, her excitement pouring out of her like water through a poorly maintained dam, he found himself not quite caring whether or not this girl was going to end this day by removing his head from his shoulders.

It wouldn’t be the worst way to go.

So instead of giving into even the basest instinct to remove himself from the situation or to stop and ask questions, he simply followed her. Occasionally she’d speak, a disapproving complaint about the weather or the state of his own clothes—tattered, wet, dirty—but mostly she remained silent, her unique eyes staring straight ahead as they maneuvered through Philadelphia.

It wasn’t until a little while later, as he watched her flit around a darkened room on the upper level of a loud, poorly-maintained, human housing unit, when he seemed to come back to reality.

Alice was suddenly stressed, anxiety and nervousness rolling off of her so thickly it almost took him off guard. It was a definite change of pace from the bliss he’d been drunk off of for the past couple of hours.

One of her hands was holding onto her elbow as the other supported her chin. She tapped her foot evenly, the noise loud in the otherwise silent room, staring at the wall as she thought to herself.

As he wondered what she was thinking, he found himself wondering if she knew what _he_ was thinking. After all, she’d known his name. If she wasn’t one of Maria’s strange finds, then he had a million questions to ask. Something told him the answers wouldn’t be what he was expecting.

“Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

And as she spoke for the first time since they entered the room, he found his eyes quickly meeting hers. Nervous, a little bit sad. Jasper had to resist sending out a comforting wave of emotions but decided against it; he still didn’t know what he was getting himself into.

At least she wasn’t scared. That would probably be cause for him to worry. Instead, he waited for her to elaborate, trying hard not to focus on the thin walls of the apartment. Or the fact that he could hear the collective heartbeats of a family resided directly to her left…

She was by his side in an instant, but the instant she reached out to grab his hands she froze and hesitated. When she made a noise of frustration, stepping backward and out of his reach, he could only watch, stunned, as this scene unfolded before him.

She noisily flopped down onto the rickety couch pressed against the wall. It looked too… human. With quick motions she pulled her gloves off, tossing them neatly to the side. “I don’t know why I thought this would be easier.”

There was a pause. “If you don’t mind me asking,” it felt odd to speak directly to her, “but what would?”

“I don’t know how to get you to stick around,” she spoke bluntly, letting her head fall into her hands.

That was unexpected. “I’m sorry, I think I’m misunderstanding something.” He then went back to their previous, brief conversation. “You said you’d been waiting for me?”

She laughed before sighing, leaning back on the couch and meeting his gaze from across the room. “Only all my life,” she laughed again. “I know I’m not doing a great job at explaining this, but so many choices don’t lead me with the results I want. I can’t decide what to say to you to keep you here.”

He blinked at that. But before he could speak again, she was already talking.

“See, and I know that makes no sense to you. I’m sorry! The more I confuse you, the less certain everything gets.” She was standing then, pacing. “I’ve been waiting my entire life to meet you. Of course I only started looking a few years ago—you weren’t ready before—but now that I see that you’re ready I’m afraid I’ve rushed things where I should’ve waited for longer.” She huffed. “What’s a few more years when it’s already been a couple of decades? But,” she looked over at him again before looking away, suddenly very embarrassed, “I didn’t want to wait any longer.”

And when he felt a pang of loneliness he couldn’t help but act, quickly smoothing over the jagged, painful emotion with something a bit more peaceful.

Alice smiled then, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. She was still smiling when she opened her eyes. “Thank you,” her smile was almost contagious, and when he felt the corners of his mouth involuntarily twitch, he found himself shocked. Did she know about his ability?

So maybe she wasn’t a vampire or a human. Maybe she was some other being. An enchantress of some sort…

“Ugh!” She groaned again, smile falling from her face. “I’m screwing this up already!”

“Ma’am,” he interrupted softly, “I’m still not sure what you want from me.”

“Alice,” she corrected softly, still embarrassed, but a little bit sad, “please, please call me Alice,” she begged.

“Alice,” he spoke quietly, trying not to think about how the name suited her, or how he wanted to say it again and again. He also tried ignoring the spark of unbridled joy and desire that erupted from her at the noise. It was… distracting. “I’m not trying to upset you.”

“Oh no, you’re not upsetting me at all!” Potent panic. “I’m upsetting myself! I don’t want to ruin this.” She was pacing again.

“You saw me coming,” he started his words slowly, as if laying the pieces down out loud would suddenly make them more likely to interconnect and fit together, “and waited years before looking for me. You mean like,” he tapped his head, “you saw me?”

“The first thing I saw, really. After waking up at least.”

He was lost again. “Waking up?”

She clicked her tongue, “I guess it really is uncommon,” she folded her arms and stopped moving again. “I don’t remember my human life.”

A beat of silence. “At all?”

“Nope,” she popped the ‘p’ and rocked back on her heels. “But that’s a long story and we’ll have plenty of time to dive into that. Or,” another pause, “I hope we will.”

“Alice,” he tried hard to ignore the emotions that were radiating from her with every use of her name, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Not yet,” she grumbled, “It’s still a possibility though.”

“And possibilities change with choices?” It would certainly be the first time he’d ever heard of someone possessing the ability to see, what appeared to be, glimpses of the future.

She smiled again then, her eyes trained on the wall again as she stared. “You’re starting to get it.”

“Maybe a little bit,” he admitted without confidence. “It does make sense for the future to always be changing.”

“I knew we would need to compromise on things in order for this to work but it’s only been a few hours and I still can’t figure out the best path,” her words trailed off as she stared, and Jasper had a suspicion that she really was seeing these paths. Intuitive didn’t even seem appropriate enough of a term to use to describe her.

“What is there to compromise on?” He asked carefully. If this strange psychic girl was having doubts at whatever future she was seeing, what is it that she thought would drive him away?

“I don’t drink humans.”

He eyed her carefully. “Are you not a vampire?”

“Oh, no I am! As much of a vampire as you or Maria or—”

“So you know Maria?”

Alice’s face fell by whatever she saw then, “No, I don’t know her. I mean, I’ve seen her before but only because I see you. I’ve been watching you for decades now.”

He realized he was disappointed with that slip of information. This girl knew he’d been Maria’s companion, for lack of a better term. If she’d been seeing him for decades, then she’d seen her fair share of actions of his. None of which were very favorable.

“It doesn’t matter—I mean, it does, but I don’t care—I care about you but what you’ve done doesn’t affect the way I feel.”

“You care about me?”

She paused then, and slowly approached. “Yes, Jasper,” and when she spoke his name again, a small smile gracing her lips, he found himself very focused on her mouth. “And I know that sounds impossible.”

“It is,” he commented, watching with a keen gaze as she lessened the space between them.

“You know it isn’t,” she spoke matter-of-factly, smiling up at him as she stopped, hardly a foot away from him. “You can feel it. I know you can.”

He should have stepped back then. He should have demanded to know how she knew about his ability, or what other information she had about him. She knew enough to validate her own claims, that she could somehow see glimpses of the future, but for some reason his self-preservation still hadn’t kicked in. And as she inched closer to him, he was afraid that it wouldn’t.

When her bare hand finally reached out and grabbed his, their skin touching for the first time, her barely-concealed gasp caused him to rip himself back out of his thoughts. And when he realized that she was right, he froze.

Because there it was again, the emotion he’d felt back in the diner when he’d taken her hand initially. That buzzing, hopeful glimmer. Then, contentment and happiness. Excitement and nerves were hard to ignore, but the warmth underneath was all-encompassing. And then something else. An emotion he’d only felt when he was travelling with Peter and Charlotte.

When Alice grabbed his other hand and lifted them both up, Jasper hesitated when she tried to place his hands against her cheeks.

“Please trust me,” she whispered as she pressed his slowly opening hands against her face, holding her own over top of his. “I know I’ve given you no reason to, I know this is all very strange and confusing, and I know I’m not doing a good job at explaining who I am to you but,” she paused and bit her lip, “I care about you very much, Jasper. And I would really, really like it if you stayed with me.”

“Here?” He asked, and as he inhaled, the burn in his throat was hard to ignore. Combined with the noise of the several heartbeats he could hear through the walls, he almost found himself distracted again. But Alice squeezed his hands tightly, pressing his palms against her face more firmly, and his attention flickered back to her.

“Maybe not here,” she supplied quietly, eyes losing and regaining focus quickly. “I don’t know. Just stay,” slowly she released his hands and reached up toward him, letting out a small content hum when he let her rest her hands on his shoulders, “with me. We don’t have to stay in Philadelphia. We can travel. There’s still a lot of this country I haven’t seen yet. A lot of the world I haven’t seen.”

“Travelling,” Jasper was struggling to keep his focus on her face when her hands began to move from his shoulders and she laced them behind his neck, “that’s fine.”

Her grin was bright then, “So you’ll come with me?”

He felt a bit silly as he shrugged, but there was truth in his words. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” He was also fairly certain at this point that whoever—or whatever—she was, it didn’t seem like killing him was on her priority list. And it was so easy to ignore the dangers of interacting with her this closely when the emotions radiating off of her felt like a breath of air.

“Trust me,” she repeated as she unlaced her hands and slowly lowered them, once more taking his hands in her own. “I’m asking a lot, I know. But please.”

He paused, considering his options. And as he thought for several seconds, he realized his options were slim. Either he continue existing in this miserable purgatory, never ending pain and despair haunting his every step, unshakeable in its grip…

Or trust this strange, beautiful girl.

“If you don’t eat humans,” he glanced from her eyes to their joined hands and then back again, “what do you eat?”

Her eyes lost focus for a few seconds and the absolute joy and happiness warmed the room so quickly that he almost took a step back.

She smiled widely then, turning to pull him toward the door. “Let me show you.”


End file.
